Seeing Red
by Yamato's Tiger Lily
Summary: A sequel of sorts to On A Chilly Night. It's starting to bother me. I don't want it to bother me. It shouldn't bother me anymore. If I go outside, I might see him still. He's still alive, right? I thought the chills disappeared… but lately, I've been dreaming of red.


I don't know how long I've had this sitting in my hard drive but it's about time I've posted this! Hopefully, everyone likes this! Please leave comments if you did. :3

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 **Seeing Red**

At first, I thought it was just cold. I thought it was just me going nuts because I've been having some serious bad luck at pachinko lately. Usually, it doesn't bother me. I don't pay it any mind. It's really not that deep; but, well, it's a bit embarrassing to say this. It's embarrassing to even mention it. I mean, I'm a grown man – why would I even be afraid of childish things still? I know little Totty has problems with the dark, especially when he goes to the bathroom. You don't see him complaining about it.

It's hard to talk about it, you know? I won't admit to anyone, even when I'm drunk, especially when I'm drunk. But, there was an incident. There was an incident when I was young, when we were all young. I'll call him a stranger. The stranger came and seemed to be nice but… it was a lie. I had found out that he's actually a robber. He soon found out the fact that I knew. He used that to his advantage. He used to scare me with promises of death had I told someone but I had to. He wanted to kidnap me and make me his accomplice in his crimes; and that's when I found out that he's a murderer. Thankfully, he didn't kill anyone, that I knew of at least… but lately, I've been having dreams about it. And it's always on cold nights like this.

It's starting to bother me. I don't want it to bother me. It shouldn't bother me anymore. If I go outside, I might see him still. He's still alive, right? I thought the chills disappeared… but lately, I've been dreaming of red.

 **.x.**

Despite how Karamatsu looks and acts, he actually liked to watch people. He liked to see their reactions, even though it's mostly to see if there would be any Karamatsu girls who'd approach him. However, as of late, it seemed that his dear older brother hadn't been getting enough sleep. Normally, he's very care-free and stealing _someone's_ wallet (usually his, which is why he always had a backup wallet) and he always had a joke up his sleeve. Rather, he's the idea man of the six and it just seemed that lately he was crankier than he'd usually be. He's not as energetic as he used to be, especially when the season's changing. The nights are getting chillier and Osomatsu seemed to have a lot of trouble sleeping.

It was the usual spot on the bridge where they met. He had a lit cigarette in his hand and he watched the small river under the bridge. He felt the cooler wind brush through his hair as the sun dimmed behind his sunglasses. He took the cigarette in his mouth and breathed in the nicotine. He could hear the people walk across the bridge behind him but there was a certain red blur that he expected to see. He hoped the reddened hoodie, that familiar hoodie, would come to see him.

He felt someone next to him to see a very tired Osomatsu. He sighed noisily, trying to get the younger brother's attention but he didn't make a noise.

"Man, Karamatsu, lend me your wallet. Let's go to the parlors today. It's getting really cold!" He shivered for effect but Karamatsu didn't say a word. Once again, the wind blew through both of their hairs and slowly Karamatsu released the smoke from his mouth and turned to his brother.

"Osomatsu, have you been sleeping okay?" His question was sudden and certainly didn't bother to answer the request to go to the parlors. It was something that weighed on his mind for some time as it were but he's concerned about his older brother. He waited for an answer but when no answer came, he kept talking. "I don't know what's going on, my dear big brother, but I, Karamatsu, am here to list—"

"Listen," Osomatsu interrupted him and Karamatsu could tell that Osomatsu didn't want to talk about whatever it is Karamatsu thought was wrong with him. The eldest brother sighed as he started to walk away. Karamatsu stayed in his place and continued to stare out into the river, not a word spoken. "If you didn't want to go to the parlors, then just say that instead of bringing up unnecessary crap."

Karamatsu remained there but turned his head to see his brother dearest walk away.

 **.x.**

Choromatsu didn't like to job hunt; truth to be told, he'd rather watch his new Blu-Ray of Nyaa's idol concert instead but he made a promise to himself that he intended to keep. He was going to find a job, even if it killed him!

"Okay, I won't go that far, but I will find a part-time job!" He muttered to himself as he scanned the classifieds. He continued to mind his own business even when he heard the familiar sound of the door sliding open. He slightly flinched at the memory of when his annoying older brother caught him that one night. He went completely mute – he didn't want to be picked on when he was fired up once more.

"Choromatsu," Osomatsu whined. "Let's go to the parlors! I'm broke and I know you have, like, a ton of money saved up!" The eldest fell to the floor and tried to crawl all over the more uptight brother and tried to interfere with him looking through it. He pawed at the book when Choromatsu lifted it up to get it away like a cat and tried to obnoxiously meow while he messed with him. "Please, meow!"

"Nii-san!" Choromatsu croaked out after he managed to get a close look of his face. While it's obvious that Osomatsu and he shared the same face, there were very subtle differences between the two – especially the fact that Osomatsu's eyes had dark bags underneath them. A strong indicator of him not sleeping lately and Choromatsu immediately took notice even while Osomatsu nagged about the parlors.

"Nii-san?" Choromatsu asked out of concern. He frowned and stood up away from him. "Are you okay? Have you been sleeping okay?"

Osomatsu ignored him and kept meowing.

"Nya, Fappymatsu should mind his business-nyaa~!" He meowed as irritation was already evident in his tone. "Let's just forget this, nyaa, and have some stupid fun at the parlors, nyaa!"

"Osomatsu-nii-san…" Choromatsu seemed to ignore the shtick. "What's wrong?" He sat back down, but with his book closed.

Osomatsu watched him as he sat down and sighed as he got up.

"Man, everyone's been pissing me off lately." He scratched the side of his hair with an irritated motion. "Always asking me these dumb questions…" He muttered as he turned to the concerned younger brother. "You know what? Never mind. Forget I asked."

He turned around and left the same way he came – except he slouched down and furrowed his brows as he sighed as he left.

 **.x.**

Ichimatsu had just woke up from his usual cat nap and he rubbed his eyes right when he saw the eldest brother storm in the room. He rubbed his eyes to adjust to the light but immediately he was on edge when Osomatsu slammed it shut.

"Oh, you're in here too?!" He yelled. The noise was a bit too much for Ichimatsu and he flinched. He didn't respond. He couldn't help but stay put – where it was safe. "I bet you're going to ask me unnecessary questions, huh? Stupid…" He couldn't help but yell at Ichimatsu. It's clear that his brothers were much more concerned about annoying Osomatsu about questions about his sleep, or lack thereof, and instead of just **moving on**. Ichimatsu kept his legs together; he never liked it when anyone yelled at him. He tried his best not to shake.

"Just leave me alone! You guys always point the stupid and unnecessary crap that I really don't want to talk about! Can't I just waste your money at the parlors?! It's something we've always done! Why does everyone suddenly give a shit about whether or not I slept? You guys are annoying!"

Osomatsu ranted without giving Ichimatsu ample time to respond, if he could. Granted, Ichimatsu has noticed that his biggest brother hadn't slept but… unlike his other brothers, he'd never point it out unless they wanted to talk to him. Ichimatsu wondered why Osomatsu yelled at him though…

"Just cut the crap! I'm sick of your prying questions! I'll just go to the parlors myself!" He yelled as he left the room with a harder slam.

Ichimatsu couldn't leave the sofa. He didn't want to leave but he couldn't help but feel a little sad for his big brother. And there was nothing he could do for him…

He couldn't help but sigh at his brother's shadow.

 **.x.**

Tired, angry, and moody, Osomatsu decided to go back outside for some air. He started to feel very sluggish and, honestly, not in the mood for parlors anymore. Granted, the whole point of him going to the parlors was to distract himself from his lack of sleep. He didn't want to do anything. He didn't want to be plagued by questions of Karamatsu, Choromatsu… though Osomatsu couldn't really recall Ichimatsu even saying anything. Still, he was angry. Still, he was sure that Ichimatsu noticed his droopy eyes.

The weather had gotten even colder since earlier. He didn't care. The chills from his nightmare haunted him – he didn't need his, honestly, well-meaning brothers to remind him of his lack of sleep. His brothers had their own personal demons to tackle – they should leave well enough alone. They should know that he especially hated it when they pointed things out and ask questions he's not prepared to answer. Then again, Osomatsu was never prepared to answer it.

Across the close distance, Osomatsu would hear the familiar noises from the fifth brother, Jyushimatsu. It didn't take long to see Jyushimatsu run past him, as he chanted his usual "Hustle, hustle; muscle, muscle!"

He almost disappeared again and saw his big brother. He immediately, almost magically, turned around and stop right in front of Osomatsu. Used to these antics, Osomatsu doesn't flinch at the sudden changes.

"Nii-san!" Jyushimatsu chirped. "Let's go to the parlors!"

Osomatsu sighed and then he yawned. "No, Jyushimatsu. I think I'm going to go home." He started to walk away.

"You sure? I got money from doing some freelancing stuff!" He got out a wad of cash and started to wave and tempt Osomatsu.

He waved it off. He was just… too exhausted. He could feel his body shutting itself down from lack of sleep.

"Yeah, I'm sure."

Any energy he had for parlors was long gone. After he ranted to Ichimatsu, he wore himself out.

 **.x.**

The night sky gleamed over Akatsuka ward. Osomatsu, despite his anger and being irritated, was relieved to be home back with his brothers. The thoughts had swirled around his head – his brothers were worried about him. They were worried about his condition. Granted, they had their own personal demons but they still very much cared about him.

Still, he was irritated. Despite it all, he was irritated.

He smelled the delicious dinner waft through the home and guessed that dinner was almost ready. He wasn't sure what his mother made – though he guessed she made a lot of curry for the boys. He sighed as he made his way through the house to find a quiet place to relax and maybe take a small nap.

Finally, he found a room where Todomatsu was distracted by his smartphone. However, it seemed that Todomatsu knew exactly who came in.

"Nii-san," Todomatsu started. "Are you okay?"

Osomatsu ignored him.

"Nii-san," Todomatsu called out.

Again, Osomatsu ignored him as he lied down. He placed an arm on his head which blocked the light from going into his tired eyes.

"Nii-san!" He placed his phone on the ground and tried to talk to his eldest brother. "Why won't you talk to me?"

Osomatsu didn't realize that he fell asleep. When Todomatsu realized this, he walked outside the room, as quietly as he could, and motioned the others who were nearby to come in.

Wordlessly, all five of the brothers watched their troubled brother slept and looked at each other. Using their sextuplet telepathy, they all nodded. Quickly, the brothers did their best to make sure their tired older brother was comfortable.

Hurriedly, Karamatsu grabbed a blue blanket with his face on it and placed it on top of him. Choromatsu moved his head to place a green pillow underneath him. Ichimatsu left a purple mug with steam coming out of it – with some warm tea which would help calm Osomatsu down on top of warming him up. Jyushimatsu placed a small, stuffed yellow tiger, dressed up in a baseball outfit, underneath his hand. And Todomatsu, with Choromatsu's help, put on a pink eye mask on him.

The brothers left the sleeping one alone to go eat some dinner, and possibly save a bowl for their tired Osomatsu, while Osomatsu, for once, dreamt his dreams in five other colors besides red.


End file.
